How to cook for twelve without losing the day

Cooking for twelve on holiday is a different job from cooking for twelve at home. You do not want to spend the whole of every afternoon in the kitchen, and nobody wants dinner at eleven. These are the rules I give guests who ask.

First, choose one big dish and make it simple. A leg of lamb with rosemary, a tray of baked aubergines, a pot of beans with a tin of the new oil: something that goes into the oven at five and needs nothing from you until seven. Everything else can be bread, tomatoes and cheese.

Second, add one clever dish, and only one. A lemon tart, a salad of shaved fennel, a pasta with the first walnuts. This is where you spend your attention. Guests remember it more than the rest.

Third, do nothing at the last minute. If something needs frying, flaming or folding, it is not for tonight. Buy the bread at seven, set the table at six, open the wine at half past, and pour yourself a glass before the first person arrives.

And fourth: if all of that sounds like work, there are a few evenings in the week when we can send a chef to your house. We will bring the ingredients, cook on your terrace, and leave the kitchen cleaner than we found it.